Thievery and Opposition
by hidingunderblankets
Summary: Siblings: they can agree on one thing, but not the other.


In the Mipedim deserts a pair of Chaotic players, two older boys wearing shades, laughed over a joke as they held a conversation and traveled the sands. One of the boys held a small radio in his hand, while the other carried a dozen sodas in a shopping bag.

They stopped near a cluster of large stones, entering a patch of shade. Each sat on smaller rocks, placing their things on the ground. The second boy, a blonde, wiped his forehead of sweat and looked up at the sun, telling Perimian time with its place in the sky.

"I think we got here too early," he told his brunet friend, whose focus pointed elsewhere.

"It's not that early," he assured him. "Besides, we can listen to more of that new CD you got."

**"**Oh yeah. Hold on," the blonde pardoned as he dug into his pant pockets. He stopped as he noticed his friend hold up his CD case wedged between his fingers. "Oh."

The brunet popped the CD into the radio. Red zeros flashed as he sealed the top. They heard weak sounds of a spinning disk as his finger moved over a button. "Which one?"

"Like which song?" the blonde asked, his hands in the bag.

"Yeah," the other one clarified.

"Let me think about it," the blonde said. His hands emerged with a moist can of soda in each one. He tossed one to his friend, catching it from a perfect throw.

From behind a rock nearby, a pair of Mipedians peeked out at the boys as they drank up. Brothers Vinta and Shimmark, unsurprised by finding Chaotic players out here (these rocks were the only hint of shadow for miles), observed the humans, spotting their sodas. They realized where they came from and grinned devilishly as they looked at each other.

"Three?" asked the first Chaotic player as he clicked the right arrow button.

"Yeah that one," the other player said. He kept clicking until the number on the radio displayed zero-three. A tune began playing from the speakers.

Behind their stone, Shimmark vanished out of sight and sneaked out of cover. Vinta tracked his brother's movement with the thin footprints he left in the sand. Once they reached a farther rock, he checked on the boys. They chatted as the music played.

"Whatever happened to Sasha, anyway?" the blonde asked, deep in a certain topic.

His friend took another sip from his drink. "I think her code got killed or something."

The blonde cringed. "That must suck."

The music stopped playing after a click. Both heads turned to the radio quickly.

"Aw man, don't tell me these things died already," the first boy whined as he sat his can down and approached the radio. Next to them, Vinta vanished himself as their backs turned on him.

The second boy tilted his drink towards his friend. "Hey, you did get them from the Dollar Store."

"They're nowhere close to this weak," the other kid countered as he rose the radio to his face and began inspecting it.

Too busy with the radio, the humans didn't notice the cans in their bag rise from the bag, one by one. Six came out in all, resting in an unseen cradle.

The boy holding the radio turned it on its back and noticed the battery part open. Inside, he found no batteries. He pointed his sights to the ground in search of them. "What the –"

His friend stood up and approached him. "What?"

"There's no batteries!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's like they just vanished!"

"I highly doubt they just vanished. Let's look around."

The blonde boy got on his hands and knees and peeked under some space below a rock. Being too dark to see, he reached inside and felt around for anything tiny and metallic. He felt only the ground. His hand slithered out and he rose.

He checked around him and spotted the bag holding their sodas. He stopped and locked on it as he noticed a soda had fallen out of it and laid on the ground. He erected himself and approached them. He bent down as he picked up the can and widened the bags opening. He noticed that only three cans were inside, nowhere close to what he counted.

"Dude, we're missing sodas!" he told the other boy as he looked around again with some panic streaming through him.

"And now we're missing two things," the player announced as he sat the radio down where it rested before.

From behind one of the bigger rocks, Vinta returned to visibility. He spotted Shimmark, who reappeared behind a smaller rock. In his arms were the sodas. Shimmark looked his way and gave a grin to Vinta, being successful in snatching the drinks.

Vinta inhaled as he craned around the rock, holding his breath. He let it out, and it released in a gust. The boys jumped as the winds struck them. Their belongings rolled across the ground, including their sodas, spilling and sinking into the parched earth. As Vinta blew, Shimmark snickered.

* * *

After collecting the sodas and terrorizing the Chaotic players, Vinta and Shimmark began their trip back home. Side by side, they trekked through the sands. Each Mipedian held an even amount of sodas. Vinta, who already opened a can, held it in one hand and the rest of his share in his opposite arm. Shimmark held his in both.

"These humans are too easy to fool," Vinta said as he tossed his can aside, having emptied it.

"They never seem to use their heads. At least not in the right way," Shimmark added.

Vinta reached for another can from his stash. "That's the good part about them! Hey, remember that song they were playing on that machine they brought with him?"

Shimmark remembered the radio vividly. "Yeah, what about it?"

His brother grabbed the tab of the can. "Whatever it was, it stank."

Shimmark frowned slightly. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

Vinta looked at Shimmark madly. "You saying you liked that garbage?"

"No," Shimmark answered as he stared ahead. "I'm just saying I don't think it's terrible."

"Whatever," Vinta said as he drank from his can again. "What do they call that stuff anyway?"

Shimmark only shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but I hear stuff like it a lot from other players."

"I haven't, and I hope I never do," Vinta stated coldly. Shimmark didn't respond and returned forward.

They noticed a cliff up ahead and halted before the edge. Looking out, they spotted the oasis, the paradise in the oven they called home. They stared at it quietly as steam rose from the canopies. Their ears caught the ambient sounds it exuded.

Vinta turned for the slope leading down. "I have something to take care of personally. We'll talk some other time when I'm not busy."

Shimmark nodded as he watched him leave. "Alright."

* * *

After becoming alone, Shimmark entered the oasis. He ventured through it, saying hello to any who said so to him as he passed by. By the time he reached his destination, the sun had began to sink and the sky commenced darkening. The temperature dropped slightly, but the place still smoldered.

Shimmark entered his home, a cavern carved into a massive rock, alongside others like his. He felt the cool air tingle his skin, sealed inside the cavern by the thick cloth he used for a door. He approached his bed, a mat on the floor, and laid down. He placed his sodas next to him as he exhaled.

He turned his head toward the exit, checking for anyone nearby. After he felt the coast was clear, he reached for a small, key-locked box next to the mat. He grabbed it and rested it in his lap, then searched through the small pack attached to his belt. Out came his hand, his fingers pinching a rusty key. He slid it into the box's lock and turned it right, causing a small click. He pulled out the key and opened the box. Lifting the top, he examined the box's contents. Inside sat a CD case, a player for it, and a pair of earbuds. A name went across the top of the disc player in English.

Shimmark emptied the box and placed its contents before him. He opened the case and the player, plucked the disc from its container and pressed it into the player. He grabbed the earbuds by the jack and plugged them into the player, shutting its top after that. The CD inside spun and they player's screen blinked with numbers. He popped either bud into his ears firmly. He waited for a moment before he heard music – the same song the humans back at the rocks played on their radio.

As he got lost in the tune, he remembered the past events of today. He breathed out as he stared at the player as it sat in his lap. "Sometimes I wish we had more in common."


End file.
